Make Money With A Video Game Website

Why Video Games Is A Great Business To Be In

If you have a passion for gaming and want to help other people enjoy the games they play, then you should definitely start an online business related to gaming.

I teach people to build websites about their own personal interests, and one of the topics I get asked about most often is video games. “Video Games” of course, covers a huge range of topics, but that’s the beauty of starting an online business in the video game industry – there’s something for everyone.

Making money online with video games isn’t easy – it can be quite competitive. However, there is a massive amount of growing global interest and if you can find a smaller submarket to focus on, the competition suddenly doesn’t become that big of a deal.

For example, if you try to make a “video game” website, there’s a really good chance that you’ll fail just because it’s much too big of a project to take on. However, if you target only competitive gamers playing Dota 2, now you have a much more specific audience, with set goals in mind that can help you take the necessary steps to profit.

There are hundreds of possible niches within the gaming industry that you could potentially choose to start your gaming website about.

gaming hardware for PCs

gaming laptops

virtual reality

competitive gaming

MMORPGs

RPGs

strategy game reviews

horror game reviews

family friendly games

games for kids under age 3/5/10

Dota 2

mobile gaming

indie games

retro gaming

retro console restoration

arcade cabinets

game design

gaming secrets

I did some research into some of these niches for writing this article, and found some really interesting trends that should get you excited about starting a website on these topics.

a great example of a gaming trend you can tap into

sometimes, individual games can be the foundation of your business

a great example of a hardware related topic (this is an amazing chart btw)

new markets are are being invented all the time

The gaming world is immensely diverse. People from different countries, with different cultural backgrounds, of all different ages, all playing for different reasons…these are all real people you could potentially reach out to online.

And starting a gaming website to make money doesn’t have to be just about “turning a profit” (although that is one of the goals). Any successful business starts with a core concept of helping people.

If you have a passion for gaming and want to help other people enjoy the games they play, then this is the business you need to be in.

How To Make Money In Gaming Online

There are tons of business models related to gaming, but there are three main ones that I have experience with that I can provide you with some insight for.

YouTube Advertising

The LetsPlay community on YouTube is gigantic, and still growing (Twitch is growing faster) You might think, “Well, the market’s saturated and who wants to watch MY channel when there are so many other good ones?”. But consider this: There are so many channels already because there’s a lot of interest and people are making money doing it. Competition is a good thing, because it means there incentive for the current players to keep producing content.

There are many other factors that make LetsPlay channels alone a possible source of income (from in-video advertising). Channels rise and fall in popularity all the time. That means there’s room for new startups like you! Also, one viewer can subscribe to multiple channels, meaning they don’t have to choose between you and another person. They can watch both! In fact, LetsPlay creators can also be potential viewers for you, so it’s not always a “consumer/producer” relationship.

But that’s just the LetsPlay arena. There are many other things you can do on a YouTube channel about gaming to make money. You can do reviews, tutorials, or even create your own ‘gaming news’ channel.

And don’t be concerned if you don’t have all the right equipment right now. You can record your PC screen with downloadable software and get started right away. Your computer’s webcam can record you while you play as well. To record console games you may need some extra cables but there are lots of tutorials to be found online on how to set that up.

Create A Digital Info Product

Depending on which market you go for, creating a digital info product could be an option for you to make money from your gaming knowledge. Some examples of topics that could work would be vintage console repair, modern console repair (remember the red ring of death?), mame arcade cabinet construction, game mods, or game creation.

Even if there are free resources online, many of them are low quality or incomplete. They are also scattered around the web, and require a lot of research to find. Compiling your knowledge into an easily readable, concise, and user friendly format (written or video) is definitely something people would buy.

Finding people that want to buy your guide is as simple as creating a website to market your product, and using your blog and social media to attract gamers to your website. How to develop a marketing strategy is something you can learn about with online marketing courses.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is something you might not have heard about but it’s something I’m passionate about and a real opportunity for you to make money online in the gaming industry. The basic breakdown of how it works is that you create a website and write articles for the website. On your website you can feature sponsored products, do product reviews, and place advertising on your site to earn revenue.

The “affiliate” part is that companies will pay you to do this. They pay for each sale generated through your website. Stuff you can promote include gaming laptops, downloadable games, game accessories (mouse, keyboard, monitor, controller), PC hardware, or other swag like shirts and action figures.

Some promoting is done directy through the company's affiliate program, and some can be done through Amazon or other online stores. Signing up is free, and you can pretty much create your website about anything and design it how you want.

There are lots of other ways to make money in the gaming industry including competitive gaming, game development, reselling retro games on eBay, or even playing games with real money systems, but in this article I’m going to focus on how to reach an online audience.

Reaching Gamers With A Website

The great thing about creating an online business is that it runs 24/7 and can reach anyone in the entire world that has internet access. Even when you’re sleeping, there are people in the UK, China, Australia, and everywhere else in the entire globe that may be playing or researching things about video games. That’s an opportunity for you to make money while you sleep!

Not only that, but there are billions of people without internet access right (or with limited access) that will be getting online for the first time in the next decade. As developing countries get faster internet speeds and more access to online technology, the gamer community is going to grow as well.

Plus, in the US, this is the first generation of “gamer parents” – people that grew up with video games systems like the NES and SNES and have positive memories of playing them. The stigma that playing video games is “unhealthy” is changing, and some people are starting to use game fandom as a way to bond with their kids.

The way to reach these people, whether they are 15 years old and just starting to buy their own games with money from an after school job, or 40 years old and building their own gaming PC from scratch is through a website. Owning your own website is a business asset that you can grow over time, including growing earnings from your first 15 cents to $15,000 or more per month. (Note: Growing earnings takes time and work!)

How To Get People On Your Website

So after all this info about how there’s so many people into gaming and you can make money with video games as long as you have a website….how do you get people to find your website and buy stuff from you?

The secret is keyword research

Using a keywords tool software, or even just using regular ol’ Google you can gain insight into what people are looking for online. You won’t see who is looking for it exactly, but you see if people are searching in high or low volume, and what the approximate level of competition is.

As website owners, we want to find phrases that have a high search volume with low competition. Not all phrases will meet these criteria, but they still might be good topics for your site. Once we find those search terms, we write articles or create videos about it. Next time someone types that keyword phrase into a search engine, our website might pop up!

volume and competition research with a keyword tool

Google can actually be a really interesting resource that you can use for free. Google Instant (autofill) is a great way to get insight into what people are searching for. You can then create content based on these topics. I'll be you hadn't thought that someone was searching for the “best energy drink for gaming”. Obviously it's Mountain Dew, but that's besides the point. It could be a funny video, or a serious research project into which drinks use the most caffeine, which have natural stimulants, and the effect of long term abuse of energy drinks.

Stuff like “best editing software for gaming” and “best chair for gaming” are keywords that are ripe for product promotion. Research five or six similar products, choose your favorite, and anyone that buys though your link can help you make money!

5 Ways To Make Money From Your Website

Affiliate Promotions

This is what I’m most excited about because it’s what I know best. You might not be 100% familiar with how it works right now, but it’s pretty simple to understand. You are basically a freelancer advertiser. You help promote companies on your website, and are paid a commission for each sale you make.

The cool thing though is that you don’t technically ‘work” for them, so you can still write whatever you want. You could review games from Blizzard and say that you loved World of Warcraft, but at the same time say that Diablo wasn’t a very good game in your opinion. You can make money by linking to BOTH of these games.

You can also promote gear like gaming headsets, hardware mods, or in game purchases. Not all products you talk about will have affiliate links you can promote, but many will. It’s free to sign up with affiliate programs, and all you need is a website to get your links.

Sponsored Content

This is where a company pays you to write about their product. Sponsored content is a little more touchy because you need to have a disclosure, and most real gamers will not take your opinion very seriously if you are paid to write about things in a positive way. Some people are able to do it well and not offend their fans, while others bomb.

You can worry about this later though, because you’ll need a well-developed fan base to even be considered for sponsored content. However, when you do, this can pay big. I’d bet ten bucks that those headphones PewdiePie wears were given to him by the company that makes them.

Display Ads

This is by far the easiest to do because you don’t need to do any kind of promotions to make money. All you need is a website, and traffic to that website. In fact, if you are monetizing your YouTube channel, then you are using display ads!

Although Google Adsense isn’t the only company that does it, they are the biggest, most widely known, and the easiest to get accepted to. In fact, there’s really no requirement other than a website or a YouTube channel.

The downside is that they don’t pay very much, and it’s easy to get banned if you break the rules. If you decide to build a website about gaming and want to make money with Adsense the training I recommend will give you instructions on how to set up your account and what the rules are.

You can also place these same style ads on your website.

(If you don't see any ads in the picture, turn off your adblocker). You can see here that the game review website I visited showed me two ads for Chevy trucks. I recently bought a new truck, and Google tracked my searches and is showing me ads that are relevant to me. If I click these ads, the website owner makes money.

Create A Brand And Products

I’m sure you’ve seen all the big YouTube gamers with their own t-shirts and branded gear. This is big money. You can start a Patreon account, and supplement your income with a Twitch account and Paypal donations.

Once you really get rolling, you can get paid to play games, or even appear at events. Even if you don’t go the YouTube route, you can do similar things with just a website.

Gaming gear is getting immensely popular as “nerd culture” grows. Imagine designing your own shirts, hoodies, and bags? Growing your ‘brand’ online and developing surrounding products will largely depend on what angle you take with your business, but as you gain more followers, subscribers, and website traffic, you'll start to see more opportunities open themselves up to you within the larger gaming industry.

Can I Make My Website About Something Else?

Even if you read this entire post about creating a website about video games and are now thinking, “Hm, maybe I don’t want to make my business about gaming”, you can still create an online business about anything you want.

The great thing about building websites is not only that you can make money in a bunch of different ways, but also that you can do it with any topic you want. The same methods of earning money we talked about above can be repeated for other things like fitness, home improvement, trucks, pets, makeup, wine, and travel.

It’s not a question of IF you can make money online. It’s a question of which topic and business model you choose to pursue

Learn How To Start An Online Business About YOU

The best topic to earn money is going to be something that you enjoy learning about. Though you might not be an “expert” in your area right now, you can certainly become one over time. Building an online business is all about doing research and producing original content. Since you’ll be spending all that time learning and writing about one topic, it’s a good idea to have some interest in it!

If you want to pursue a video game related topic, that’s great. Let’s do it. If you decided to go in a different direction, that’s alright as well!

Either way, you can learn how to take that idea and turn it into a business at the Wealthy Affiliate Online Business Community.

This is a community of people just like you that are starting businesses in a huge variety of industries, but all following the same reliable training that has produced results for many people before (including myself).

Here’s what you’re going to do inside the community:

choose a topic for your business

learn how to rank your website in Google

find products to promote for your business

share ideas on how to grow sales and increase earnings

Over time, as you follow the lessons, you’ll learn how to grow your website from the very first page to an true authority on any topic. Some people choose to star ta business as a hobby and supplement their income in the evenings and weekends.

Other people have decided to make big changes in their lives, and created a full time business so they could start working from home.

Whatever you goals are, Wealthy Affiliate can help you achieve them. I was able to take my own passions and turn them into a full time business generating 6 figures per year in less than 2 years. How long will it take you?

Here’s how they (and I) can help you start a successful online business:

community support, including 24/7 live chat

two free websites

1-on-1 support any business or technical problems you run into

personalized feedback from peers and professionals

brainstorming with me, a full time marketer with multiple six figure businesses

FAQ

Is it hard to build a website?

Building your basic website is very easy! Adding graphics and learning the interface will have a slight learning curve but all of the lessons come with video training so you can follow along withe the instructor.

Can I change my topic later?

You can build up to 25 websites with your membership, so you can have 25 different topics if you want! However, if you pick a new topic, you will need to purchase a new domain ($11). You should not have more than one topic for a website because it will confuse your visitors.

How much does is cost to run a business?

The one basic thing you need to run your internet based business is a domain name. This costs $11 per year to register. There are many extra things that are optional, but none are required. How much you invest in your business is up to you.

How much does Wealthy Affiliate training cost?

Wealthy Affiliate is free to join, and you are not required to upgrade. If you decide to continue beyond the beginner lessons and maintain access to the support network within the community, the cost is $47/month. They also offer a discount for your first month which means you only pay $19 for the first month of membership.

If Wealthy Affiliate hosts my website am I still the sole owner?

Yes, you own 100% of your website! If decide to leave Wealthy Affiliate at any point you can move your website to a new host.

How long does it take to earn money?

This is a tough question to answer because it’s different for everyone. Some people see earnings in just a few months. Others take more than a year. It really depends on how much time you spend growing your business each day.

How much money can I earn?

This is the cool part – there’s no limit! Because you are building an internet based business, the sky is the limit. There are billions of dollars being spent online every day. All you need to do is find a small slice of the pie and you can be making really good money.

Some people have businesses that earn a modest $30,000-$80,000 per year. Others grow to six figures and beyond. The really hard workers have multi-million dollar internet businesses.

Whoa. Wait a minute. Before you make a million bucks, let’s begin with the first step – creating your FREE Wealthy Affiliate account and starting your free website!

That’s me 🙂 I hope you are excited as I was to get your first business rolling!

Q & A Discussion

Got any questions? Be sure to let me know in the comment section. I’m happy to help!

Comments

Kristi Ambrosesays

October 27, 2017 at 8:15 am

“Even if you don’t go the YouTube route, you can do similar things with just a website.”

I was happy to read this line. I tried contacted someone in my niche about becoming an affiliate for their “gear” and they asked if I was on YT. I said no. I only have the GAMING website. They pretty much laughed their ass off and ended the conversation right there. Pretty rude.

I think back to that conversation and it kind of annoys me. I mean not everyone wants to be on videos. I know I don’t! But, I write a crap ton of posts and I work really hard on my content, SEO, keywords and promotion and I would think that would be enough. To top it off, the rudeness from that website will forever keep me away from it. Not only will I never mention their website on my website but I will never buy anything from them, refer someone to them, etc.

So far I am making around $150 in affiliate sales a month and I have about 6000-7000 UVs per month and usually around 14k to 15k visitors a month – so the same people visit my website multiple times a day. I have only been doing this since May and I hope HOPE to make at least $5000 per month in the next year.

Awesome. Glad you stuck with it. YouTube isn’t the only way that people learn about games! Lots of folks enjoy reading, especially when it’s inconvenient to watch videos. Plus, you can skim an article in 5 minutes versus watching a 20 minute video! There are advantages to both platforms. Congrats on your success!

Arooj Asifsays

December 12, 2016 at 12:09 am

Hello , I have gone through almost all of your niche articles. Actually, i am stuck in Niche selection. I need your help. I have found that hijab fashion is in good trends according to your graph . But WA keyword tool is not showing it in good trends ? 2nd question is, i want to create website where kids can play games . Is it possible to built a website like that. Hoping for your helpful response. AROOJ

Hijab Fashion is also a great niche. I just looked in Jaaxy and found tons of high traffic low competition keywords. Rising trends in Google Trends too!

Andres Santossays

September 27, 2016 at 10:22 am

Nice article. I’ve been looking for some new niches to get into and have thought about the gaming industry. Like you said, there are a lot of different categories within this niche and I got overwhelmed. But the information you’ve provided has given me a direction. I will definitely use it to make my decision on which way to go.

Video games is certainly a good money maker for an online business. People are playing more and more video games and the interesting thing is,is that there are such a wide variety of games for everyone to play. I’ve always enjoyed soccer so I like the soccer video games. Very informational post.

Hello, I visited your post titled “Make Money With A Video Game Website.” I must admit I am not a gamer, I was just very curious about how this can be done. My goodness I never knew there were so many avenues concerning the gaming industry. I am excited to know that an income can be made in this way. Are you a full time gamer, making an income? Wishing you much success! A Gamer’s Mom, Linda

Hey. Nice post on gaming. Gaming is a huge niche and there is money to be made no matter which way you go. Starting with keyword research to writing content or making videos is a great way to make some extra money on your website.Do you think putting adsense on your website would be a good idea? Thanks for the post. Kendrick

Another very thorough article from you, my friend. You really put great effort when writing these. I was just wondering do you use some template when writing articles about affiliate marketing on new niches?

However, if we talk about video game niche. It’s not for me because I don’t that video games improve people’s lives very much. I know some people who are addicted to these games and make them spend a lot of time alone. I used to play lots of games when I was younger but not anymore because I want to use my time more profitably and encourage others to do so as well. But everyone makes their own decisions and carries the responsibility about what they do.

Yeah, I have a general template, but sometimes when I start writing the article, I just go with where the passion takes me. It’s always very exciting writing these because there’s so much opportunity out there and I love sharing it. Realistically, a lot more people could be making money online than already are!

Toddsays

September 21, 2016 at 5:46 am

Such a popular niche and super lucrative. I wanted to do a gaming computer website, but I have fallen off the gaming scene.

It’s been so many years now since I have played games that I would have a lot of back research to do.

Although I do enjoy making graphics and building computers so maybe I can do something along those lines.

I have two websites already though haha, but once those mature I would like to do something that satifies the techie in me. Those Niches have higher product prices (so higher payouts), people need a lot of help, and well I have lots of help to offer.

As always an amazing post from you on making money from video game websites online. I love the way you walk us through the entire process. I have been trying to find the graphs that you have in your post. Do you have a post that shows us how to do proper research like you do? Thanks so much. Marc

The gaming industry is huge, there are so many ways to make money from it, selling games, apparel, equipment, etc. A great place for someone to try their first website.

An idea I had been given a while back but never worked on is getting orders for new games being released. Use eBay and offer items on a due date scenario.

Offer a price and wait to see how many sales you make then order your stock from your order list and post on to your client. You don’t make any sales don’t buy stock so your not out getting caught out.

I know gamers who pre-order games months in advance as they normally sell out in the stores within a few hours so getting in on that action could be lucrative for some of your readers.

Great article Nathan, my sons play games all the time. They are at an age now when they should be paying their own way so I am going to get them to read your website. They might realise they can earn a living from what they do and enjoy. Wish I had the opportunity when I was young.

Could you do the same for a meat site? I am a butcher and just wondering if it could work for me as well.

Of course you can! I’m sure there are tons of tricks of the trade that other butchers would enjoy learning about.

Kmajorsays

September 19, 2016 at 4:07 pm

Very nice and informative post!! I to was thinking of creating another nich that involves video game reviews, and this information you provide is very helpful. I will be using some of the tips you provide especially the creating a info product. Because a lot of people like to mode there games to have an advantage while playing in the game, and I can sell my modes to on my website to make more money.

Very informative and thorough post about buz with video games. I used to play a lot in a past, but now I concentrate on other things, but when I play some game now, I still enjoy it a lot. If I´m going to think about more websites in the future, maybe one about video gaming will take a place there.

Thanks again for the inspiring article, and wish you a lot of success in the future.

Hey there, im not into gaming myself as I have gone a bit past that stage myself but my son never stops playing these games. Instead of just playing he should do what you do – try to make money at it – so many different niches to choose from, if he’s as good at playing video games as starting to earn a bit working it, he will be off to a good start, I’ll pass this to him and see what he says…

Video games are so popular among kids and gown ups. Making a niche about video games is great idea, People are in need for good niches, and giving nice steps how to start an affiliate marketing can make people to start their own business. It can be video games, or any other niche, or product review. Nice website

A gaming website was one of the sites I considered doing when I was thinking of a niche. I love mobile games, so I thought that since I waste so much time playing them, might as well make money off of them, right? lol! This is very useful information for when I start my own gaming website. I agree that nerd culture is making playing games “cool” and that there’s a bigger, more open audience nowadays, so I’m keeping my hopes up! Great post, something for me to come back to in the future. Thanks!

Thanks for the sharing about making money with video gaming. I used to play the video game when I am a teenager and I still remember the old days where I spend most of the time playing the game like King of Fighters, Warcraft.

I have been wondering how I can make money at the same time I am playing the video game. Your sharing is absolutely useful for me.

Wow! It’s good to know that we can make business and make money using online gaming niche. It sounds interesting. It’s great idea because nowadays kids and old ones are hooked in this gaming craze and there’s a higher chance to make profit because many will appreciate it. This is for people in all ages brackets. It’s good investment too, especially to those hobbyist in gaming because they can enjoy what they are doing whilst earning money too. Thanks for sharing this very informative research. Really appreciated! Good Job!

I’ve been looking for ways to make money online. Looks like gaming is a really profitable niche. I’ve been thinking about doing a website revolving around older RPG games like final fantasy. I hope that it will be easy to monetize something like this. I should give it a try tho I guess. very informative 🙂

Old RPGs would definitely be a cool niche worth looking into. Nostalgia gaming is big right now!

Stephsays

September 12, 2016 at 8:22 pm

This is such a great article, even for someone who isn’t necessarily interested in the gaming niche!

You’ve got so much knowledge to share, I loved reading through this.The extra research you put in on the stats for the different gaming topics was great to see too! You clearly care about creating the best content you can.

As someone who is just starting out with affiliate marketing, there was a lot of value in this for me, even though I’m in a different niche, so thanks for sharing!

Nathaniell, My son has been creating Utube videos about gaming for about a month with his best friend. He has several videos that are getting some views. Getting a website to promote these and getting some return for his time investment will make dad happy. I am going to let him read this blog when he gets home and see if it gets him more exited about new adventure. Thanks for the read. I started gaming with a TI99, look that one up, I still have my Intelivision setup. John

I think the VR gaming industry would be a great niche. It seems like that is becoming real popular. I find facebook to be a good resource to find out whats trending. You are seeing a lot of videos on facebook newsfeed that are related to the newest VR craze!

Thank you for the detailed information on not just how to build a game website but almost any website in general!

Hi there! Thank you for sharing this article with us, I found the information here very useful indeed.

I love video games and I know the market is absolutely massive for all kinds of related products. I’m what you might call a retro gamer, being in my 40’s now! So this has started the cogs turning and I’m wondering how successful a retro gaming site would be?

Thank you for the ideas, I’m going to go and do a bit more research now. By the way, love the image at the top of this article. Is that your personal collection?

I love video games myself! This is a great niche you have come up with. I love the idea of taking something you love and making money off of it. The article is very detailed about making money with a video game website. Awesome Job I will definitely share this website with my brother he loves making video games!

Thanks for this post Nathaniell! I have an interest in gaming and you provide a thorough overview of all the niches and options available to get started. Do you think focusing on an age group within one specific niche is a solid idea? Or, would promoting targeted age groups across several game genres/platforms be a better start?

As usual in having the pleasure in reading past articles at your website, once again with this one you have crafted such a thorough and in-depth article which dealt the online video game industry and a person possibly making money in this venture.

You emphasized that it would involve a lot of intense planning and work on the individual’s part that, over time, potentially could turn out to be a profitable online business.

I know that personally I am really into airplane/jet computer flight simulation and have treated it as a serious hobby since the late 1990s. I look at it solely as something to do in my spare time, not at all looking at making any profits. For a fact it is quite hard to learn how to fly jets – especially the jumbos, (767s, 777s, 747s, etc). But as they say practice makes perfect. Over time it can be mastered flying a jet from the initial “cold and dark” stage. Microsoft even offers tutorials that come with their software, providing instructions for the individual who seeks to fly – albeit on a computer.

I also know that one can have an online business simply testing new gaming software that comes out – although it would require a full-time commitment to possibly earn any serious revenue.

Just wondering as you spent so much time in researching info for this article – are you into video computer games yourself, Nathaniell? If so what genre of video games hold your interest?

I love video games so creating money from my passion seems like a pretty good deal. If I do not really like writing, creating a website does not really interest me that much so would you recommend starting a youtube channel only? Or should I push past my dislike of writing and get a website? You have given me plenty of options here and I feel like I need some sort of guidance in my decision.

I happen to have just started a gaming based website around my passion. Currently it’s centered around tech for gamers, more specifically video game accessories. I like working on my website. I’m keeping this article on stand by because as I learn more about running a blog I might branch out and start doing all these things. I never saw myself being popular on youtube like ever, let alone with lets plays or something but who knows.

Curious question, is it okay to make mutliple sites that are technically centered around the same niche? I don’t mean just two video game site one about retro games, the other about horror games or something, I mean if they were both the same?